@nostupidquestions What’s up with the hyprland hype?
Is it lighter than lxde/lxqt/xfce?

  • Object@sh.itjust.works
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    15 hours ago

    It’s a tiling window manager that has been popular in ricing community. Window manager is a subcomponent of a desktop environment (eg. KDE has KWin), so I suppose you can say it is lighter, but it’s different from desktop environments, which has window manager alongside many other components.

    As the name suggests, all it does is manage windows. You can move them around, resize them, make one take up the whole screen, move them into different workspace, etc. What makes tiling window manager popular is that it’s minimal, making it easier to build your own desktop environment, and a perfect fit for keyboard-oriented workflow. I use Hyprland myself, and I can definitely work just fine without using a mouse.

    As for why Hyprland is popular as opposed to other window managers, I think it’s because

    1. It’s relatively new
    2. It got cool animations
    3. Bunch of well known people use it
    • @Object new would generally mean less popular right? I’m comparing it to lxqt in the practical lightness department since it seems to be a fancy wm and it might be more usable as a replacement than lxqt/de which is a pain for me to use. Is the keyboard aspect required?

      • Object@sh.itjust.works
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        14 hours ago

        New would genereally mean less popular, yeah, but Hyprland is past that level of new. Frankly, I haven’t compared Hyprland to light DEs like LXQt. I don’t really see LXQt working as a replacement for Hyprland. With LXQt, when you boot up your computer, you get things like

        • Taskbar
        • Start menu
        • Background with icons you can double click

        With Hyprland alone, you get none of above. You need to install each component by yourself. Additionally, you get a very minimal configuration that is stored in a single file, and you are expected to make it however you want it to behave.

        The keyboard aspect isn’t necessary, but you need to install start menus, taskbars, etc yourself, or use someone else’s config. Hyprland allows you to set keybinds for a lot of actions including running programs and commands, which is why your workflow ends up being more keyboard oriented.

        Feel free to ask more. I don’t have much to do today.

        • @Object I’m guessing hyprland is as usable as a desktop environment or at least better than lxqt which is atrocious? Or do I have to install extra extensions or have to muck around in the config to have a proper desktop? All the dev influencers seem to use it.

          • Object@sh.itjust.works
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            14 hours ago

            Unfortunately, you will have to do a lot of tweaking a lot to get it to usable level. You won’t have any start menus, taskbars, GUI-based settings, or any clickable buttons outside of the program you are running right off the bat. These are intended to be filled in with programs of your own choice, but it won’t be shipped with Hyprland.

            Or do I have to install extra extensions or have to muck around in the config to have a proper desktop?

            Yes, that is the case. It’s what makes it attractive for those who want maximum customisability, even if it takes a long time to get there.